As if the mortgage meltdown is not bad enough---check this out!

[12voltman59]

It seems that the players on Wall Street had all kinds of ways to make a killing---now we are all getting killed thanks to their greed---this is a somewhat complicated subject--but National Public Radio has been running a series of reports detailing the various ways that the rich have gotten rich and the rest of us are getting royally screwed:

(you can either read the story copy on these pages or look for the link to listen to them---it is best to listen to them to get the full impact of their meaning.)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96723051

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96741366

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96743141

These reports are about "credit default swaps"-the real reason the big banks all over the world tanked--not because poor people wanted to buy houses:

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=96333239&m=96344482

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96395271

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94748529

[etncple]

These credit default swaps were nothing more than betting on the mortgages being paid. The law that passed allowing their creation even has a clause in it stating that they are not subject to any "gaming/gambling " laws. Wall St just invented them as another way to make money.